Killer snake gets official role at Eglin

We all know of the unofficial policy of different spanks for different ranks — but what can you make of this one?

A snake that killed a 2-year-old girl at Eglin Air Force Base in 2009 will now be used in training. Gypsy, an 8-foot-6 albino Burmese python, “now will be used in swamp training at ranger camp,” according to the Northwest Florida Daily News.

The newspaper reported the toddler, Shaianna Rosa Hare, died July 1, 2009, “after the python slid into her crib and constricted her. Her mother, Jaren Hare, and her live-in boyfriend, Charles “Jason” Darnell, each were sentenced Wednesday to 12 years in prison.”

The snake was trying to eat the child, the medical examiner testified at the trial. The state held onto the snake for evidence in the criminal case, and a state wildlife official told the newspaper there was no reason to destroy the snake because it was acting on instinct.